Enjoy a coffee and conversation with Susan Swartz at her exhibition, BREATH OF NATURE. Swartz is an American landscape artist and environmental campaigner whose work probes the intersection between devout spirituality and a reverance for nature. Her art is part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Swartz is also an impassioned environmental activist and educator who has worked with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jane Goodall in their efforts to shed light on environmental issues.

I have long been fascinated by the powerful connection between art and the environment — both define us as a people. Standing in a riverbed deep within the walls of a canyon or at the helm of a boat contemplating the vastness of our oceans, I try to imagine how an artist chooses color and finds form, and I am humbled. The outer world of nature and the interpretive world of art both insist that we transcend our narrow self-interest and see beyond what is right in front of us. Artists seek universal truths and help us form a community that responds to these truths and not to rhetoric or partisanship. The natural world reminds us how we are all connected, not by geography, but by river tributaries and wind patterns and fault lines. We depend on each other and also depend on the stewardship of the natural world. For it provides our lifeblood: clean air and water.

As part of the year long celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act, today June 21st is Fishable Waters Action Day. Local Waterkeeper Alliance groups, fisherman and anyone interested in the health of their local waterways are fishing, boating or visiting their favorite water spot today. Susan, a longtime supporter of the work of Waterkeeper, urges everyone to join her in visiting their local stream, river, lake or ocean today to enjoy and observe its health.